Imperfect Saint

by Jess Bryant

  “Huh?”

  “I know it’s been a shit day and we’re bound to have a lot more of them before this mess gets cleaned up, but please Millie, just say it again, so I know that you’re here with me.”

  “I’m here, Hunter. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” She reached up and cupped his cheeks, meeting his gaze, “He tried to take me away from you, and he won’t get that chance again. I love you. I love you so much.”

  “God, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” Hunter brushed his lips over hers softly.

  “I was too scared to say it earlier. I’m sorry, I should have told you before all of this… mess. I was just scared. You scared me Hunter.” She shook her head when he frowned, “Not in a bad way. I know you’d never hurt me. Not like that. But loving you, admitting I love you, it meant opening my heart up to a whole new kind of hurt. I was scared, but I’m not scared anymore because when I thought I was going to die, that was the one thing I wished I’d done in my life. To tell you the truth and tell you that I love you. I didn’t want to die and you never know how much I loved you.”

  Hunter tightened his hold on her, “I knew, Mills. I’ve known for a while. You didn’t have to say the words for me to know how you felt about me. You show me every day, every time we’re together. I knew you loved me but I didn’t want to push you for the words. I wanted you to know for sure, for yourself, before you told me. Hearing it out loud? It’s a dream come true, baby.”

  “You knew?”

  “I hoped. I paid attention and I hoped that all the little things you did for me without even thinking about it meant that you were falling in love with me too.”

  “Little things?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “You order pizza with me in mind now. Half of it is always covered in jalapenos because I like them even though you don’t. You set up the DVR to record The Walking Dead for me because I miss it if I’m working late. And sometimes you text me out of the blue for no reason except to say you’re thinking of me, and you hope I’m having a good day. Millie, God, those messages, those simple little things and a hundred others are what get me through my days until I get to come back home to you.”

  Millie chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about what he was saying. She had started doing all of those things for him. She’d also given him space in her closet to hang his suits and a drawer for clean socks and underwear. She cooked him meals even though when she was alone, she didn’t usually bother, instead opting for takeout. She supposed, without even thinking about it, she had been opening herself up to him and inviting him in more and more.

  She’d been telling him she loved him without using the words.

  She glanced up and met his gaze, “Well?”

  “Well?” He raised an eyebrow and she flattened her mouth into a thin line.

  “Well, isn’t there something you want to tell me now?”

  He looked puzzled, “No. Can’t think of anything.”

  “Hunter!” She shoved his chest and a smile cracked through his expression a moment before he chuckled and pulled her back against him.

  “I love you, Millie Turner. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t ever want to go another day without hearing you say you love me too.”

  Tears glistened in her eyes but she managed to nod, “I think that can be arranged.”

  Hunter hugged her and held her close and she burrowed against his chest. His embrace was her safe space. She knew nothing could hurt her here. She should have known if she could trust him with her safety that she could trust him with her heart, and some part of her must have or else she’d never have let him in.

  She’d built up her walls after everything Joshua had put her through but Hunter had come along and scaled them. More than that, he was now the guard on duty, full-time, one hundred percent. He would keep her safe and cherished and he would love her with as much passion and loyalty as he put into everything else in his life.

  And even though she knew there would be dark days ahead, where they’d have to relive this awful night, face Joshua and all that he had done, she knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her and Hunter.

  They would walk out the other side of this hand in hand and then they could start building the rest of their lives together, just the two of them. Somewhere next to her on the floor, Simmons mewled from her carrier, clearly unhappy with her current situation, and Millie smiled against Hunter’s chest. Well, maybe not just the two of them. For now it would be her and Hunter and Simmons and someday soon, maybe that dog she’d always wanted too.

  22

  Six Months Later

  Hunter woke up in bed alone and grumbled as he swiped a hand over his face. It took him a second, as it always did when he first opened his eyes, to place his surroundings. This was home now but he was used to waking up with Millie in his arms and she was already up and out of bed, which he didn’t like. He’d been hoping to wake up with her warm, sleepy body draped over his so that he could make love to her again before they started their day.

  Morning sex was definitely the best part of sharing a bed and a home. They’d moved in together a little more than three months ago, after spending nearly that long searching for the perfect place. He’d have moved into the first place they looked at but for Millie, their new place needed to be perfect so that was what he’d tried to give her.

  The townhome they’d found was centered exactly so that they could each get to work easily in the mornings and also so they could head to the country for a long weekend if they wanted. Millie liked to head out to the stables and go riding and he had to admit even he had started to get comfortable around the horses and around Millie’s father. They’d been spending more time out at the manor in Brentwood since Millie had begun repairing her relationship with her father and that had all started as soon as Chuck had severed his ties with the Bell family, or what was left of it.

  Somewhere, Joshua Bell was sitting in a tiny cell, most likely on a bunkbed half the size and ten times less comfortable than the bed Hunter had woken up in. Joshua would be spending the rest of his life there. Not just for attempting to murder Millie and killing Kendra. They’d found out later, after that awful night from hell, exactly why he’d snapped and the brutal things he’d done before he ever got to Millie’s apartment building.

  Joshua’s father had called him to come home to discuss the rumors of what had happened at the Turner wedding. They’d argued and his father had threatened to disown him, cut him out of the will and leave him with nothing. Joshua had lost it and he’d attacked his own father. The details weren’t exact but amid the struggle Joshua had gotten his hands on the gun his father kept in his desk and he’d shot the old man in the chest and then left him to die. With Mrs. Bell out of town visiting her mother, nobody had found the body until the next day when the police tried to contact him with the news of his son’s arrest.

  The senior Mr. Bell had been the first victim of Joshua’s murderous night but he hadn’t been the last. Kendra had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Security feeds showed that she’d tried to stop Joshua from entering the elevator since Millie had removed him from her approved guest list and he’d shot her in cold blood at close range. Next, he’d gone upstairs with every intention of killing the woman he blamed for his life falling apart.

  It was a miracle that Millie had survived. If Joshua hadn’t been so set on having the last word, he may have managed it. But instead of catching her off guard he’d confronted her, argued with her and Millie had been strong enough and smart enough, to escape his clutches.

  It had been a close call, far too close, and Hunter hated even thinking about what he would have done with his life if he’d lost Millie that night.

  It had been a long six months since. There had been police interviews and court appearances. The media had jumped on the story and kept it in the headlines daily. They’d staked out Millie’s old place, just like Hunter had known t
hey would, and she’d all but moved in with him.

  Not just to avoid the media but because simply thinking about setting foot back in that apartment had been impossible for her.

  They’d agreed not long after that they would find somewhere new together.

  This, having their own place because they wanted to live together, because they loved each other and were planning to spend their lives together, was so much better than the forced cohabitation and stress of those first few weeks.

  Buying the townhouse had been part of their recovery process, part of their mission to move on from the past. They were recovering. They were together. They were happy. And that was all he wanted for Millie, well, happiness and whatever else she asked him for.

  Something warm and heavy landed on the bed, shifting the mattress and Hunter groaned a second before he felt a rough, wet tongue slide up his arm. He cursed and rolled away but the dog followed him, panting and eager for morning cuddles. Hunter sat upright finally, freeing himself from the sheet wrapped around his torso and caught the dog by the collar, giving him a quick head rub even as he tried not to grin at the furry beast.

  Millie had wanted a dog. Of course, in her dreams, she’d wanted a perfectly trained and genetically engineered purebred golden retriever like the one she’d grown up with. But Millie was a tender-heart and when they’d seen a special on the news about all the unwanted animals overflowing the shelter they’d gone down there and they’d come home with the biggest mutt of them all.

  Supposedly he was some sort of shepherd, terrier mix, but to Hunter he was just a big ball of fur and energy and love.

  He scratched the big mutt behind the ear, “You’re not supposed to be on the bed.”

  There was a familiar meow a second before the cat followed suit and Hunter snorted with laughter.

  It was a lost cause. Always. The animals did whatever they wanted no matter what he said. The only one in the house with any sort of authority when it came to the animals was Millie, which reminded him…

  “Where’s your mama?”

  “She’s right here.” Millie came through the doorway back into the bedroom and stopped, hands on her hips, looking delicious and disheveled. “Fitz. Simmons. Off the bed.”

  Both of the animals instantly leaped back to the floor and when she shooed them, they trotted out of the bedroom. Millie shut the door and Hunter ate her up with his eyes. She was still dressed in her pajamas, or more accurately, she was redressed in her pajamas from the night before because he had very vivid memories of taking them off of her and was already contemplating doing it again when she threw her hands up in the air and huffed.

  “I give up.”

  Hunter scratched his bare chest, “What are you giving up?”

  “Looking for the ring.” She made the most adorable pouty face as she hopped back on the bed and crawled towards him. “I know you hid it here somewhere. Stop being so sneaky and tell me where it is.”

  Hunter laughed as she crawled onto his lap. Ah, that explained why she looked so disheveled. She’d been digging through drawers and looking in cabinets again. It had become a weekend ritual and he had to admit he’d kept up the game just because he loved seeing her like this, all curious and sweet, trying to seduce him into telling her where her engagement ring was hidden

  “You’re searching for your engagement ring and I’m the sneaky one?” He wrapped his arms around her waist and slid his hands to her ass, pulling her closer so that she straddled him.

  Millie pushed out her bottom lip, “You promised to make an honest woman out of me, remember?”

  “Indeed I did.” He smiled as he leaned forward to nuzzle her neck.

  There had been serious discussions over the past six months. Millie was a planner, and she liked schedules. She operated off organization and efficiency. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to know that he was serious about spending their lives together before she’d agreed to move in with him. And of course he was serious. Completely serious. He’d told her they could get married immediately but his little planner had balked at that too and so, this game had been created.

  She knew he intended to propose. His little sister had popped off about the velvet box she’d helped him pick out, and that had been enough. Millie had been not so secretly searching for it for the past four weeks and he let her because it was fun and because the spontaneity of getting to propose on the spot when she did find it would be something his perfectly organized future wife couldn’t plan for.

  He liked surprising her because it was so rare that he got the chance.

  “Do you think you’ll get around to it sometime soon?” Millie leaned forward, all but pressing her breasts into his face and shifting just enough that her bottom rubbed along the thick length of him.

  He groaned. Little minx. He hadn’t expected her to be like this but he loved that she’d begun opening up and embracing her sexuality. It had started small, with her being the one to initiate kisses, to slide her hands down his body while he was cooking, and then to peel his clothes from him while she murmured in his ear about how much she wanted him. He fucking loved it when she went full on seductress.

  Someday he’d convince her to play sexy librarian for him, glasses and all, but today wasn’t that day.

  He squeezed her ass and shifted his hips, “Maybe.”

  “Maybe I could… convince you?” Her lips tilted playfully.

  “Maybe.” He slid his hands up, getting a good hold on her and then flipping them.

  “Hunter!” Millie squealed with laughter as he pushed her back onto the bed and loomed over her.

  He caught his name on her lips and kissed her. He’d only meant to keep it teasing but Millie was feeling particularly dedicated to her task this morning. She opened her mouth and licked at his lips, allowing her tongue to dip inside and enticing him into playing. He kissed her back, sucking her tongue and then biting her lip until she moaned and writhed beneath him.

  Hunter was hard. He was aching. It didn’t have a damn thing to do with morning wood either. He wanted her. He wanted Millie, his love, his life… his fiancée.

  He broke the kiss and pulled back just enough to look down at her. Her dark hair fanned out over the pillows. Her cheeks flushed and her lips stained red. Her eyes were bright and she smiled automatically when she looked up at him.

  “I love you.”

  Her smile grew wider, “I love you too.”

  “You want to know where your ring is?”

  Her mouth fell open, “What?”

  “Your ring. You know, that thing you’ve been looking for.” He rolled to his side and propped himself up on an elbow, using his other hand to point, “It’s right there, babe.”

  Millie’s eyes went comically big and she looked from him to the bedside table and back again, “But… I looked there. I checked it yesterday!”

  “I know. I moved it there after you checked.”

  “You’ve been moving it?” She smacked his chest, “That’s not fair!”

  “All’s fair in love and war, baby.”

  Millie rolled her eyes and then she squealed as she reached for the bedside table and pulled the drawer open. She gasped when she must have seen the small velvet box. She sat upright and Hunter did the same so that he could watch her as she opened it.

  It clicked and she let out a small squeak, her hand flying to her mouth to cover it.

  Hunter held his breath and waited. She didn’t say anything for the longest time and he was starting to doubt everything. His sister’s ability to know what a woman like Millie wanted in a ring. His plan to propose while they were in bed. Well, that actually hadn’t been a plan at all.

  So much for spontaneity.

  “Mills?” He finally spoke, softly.

  She turned to face him and as soon as their eyes met her face contorted with pleasure, “Oh, Hunter. It’s perfect!”

  She threw her arms around him and he grabbed onto her with everything he had. He started breathing again as he t
ucked her to his chest. It was okay. Everything was going to be okay. She wasn’t crying or throwing the ring in his face. She was happy.

  “I love you.” She pulled back from the hug and kissed him quickly and then looked at the ring in the box again, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  “Is that a yes?” He grinned as she peppered him with kisses.

  Millie paused and gave him a narrow-eyed look of disbelief, “You do realize you haven’t actually asked me yet, right?”

  Hunter laughed. There was nothing else to do. Nothing got past his beautiful, smart, fierce, soon to be wife.

  “I had a plan you know. To take you to a nice dinner, to have champagne and dessert, to get down on one knee and propose to you the right way.” He pulled her onto his lap and plucked the ring from the box in her hand. “Instead, because you’re so demanding, my lovely, beautiful, precious girl, I’m going to propose to you here, in our bed, while you wear those sexy little pajamas and I’m sporting an erection that could cut steel.”

  Millie laughed, “You know I was proposed to once before and it was all proper and dignified and it didn’t end very well.” She held her hand out for him, “I’d choose you, like this, any day of the week.”

  “If you say so.” Hunter smiled at that and then cleared his throat, “Camilla Evelyn Turner, will you do me the great honor of being my wife?”

  “Yes!” Millie squealed as he slid the ring onto her finger.

  It was a simple platinum band with a single classic diamond that flashed brilliant in the morning light. Tatum had told him it was perfect but he’d worried it was too simple. Now, seeing it on Millie’s hand, he knew his sister was right. It wasn’t simple. It was classic and beautiful, just like his fiancée.

  He turned her around on his lap and kissed her. He threaded his fingers into her hair and gripped her hard as he took her mouth. Desperate to taste her now, to know if it would be different now that she was completely his, and willing to be his forever, and Millie clung to him and kissed him back just as fiercely.